JIRI GELLER: PETTYMYSTEN SARJA
MAURO FARIÑAS: PLEASED TO MEET YOU
6.11-5.12.2009
Gallery Kalhama&Piippo has the great pleasure of opening solo shows
by two original artists.
Jiri Geller is known for his sculptures that involve the imagery of popular culture. The works are meant to catch the viewer’s attention just as fast as the new products in the supermarket catch us to consume. The works look like they’ve been industrially produced but like Jyrki Siukonen writes in the fresh book on Geller’s body of work (Jiri Geller Selected Works 1998 – 2008, Kiasma 2008), the artist is the only craftsman and quality controller in his “factory”. The seemingly very polished works are born in a long process and they comment the unreal and peculiar glimmer of the world of popular
culture. In the exhibition, which showcases recent works by the artist, the humour is accompanied by the emptiness that silences one’s spontaneous laughter.
Mauro Fariñas’ photographic works also tell of a silent, but completely different, world. There is an analytical touch in his works, which however doesn’t drown the humanity and sensitivity that is present. The works explore situations that someone has experienced
or hopes to encounter. The human being is absent from the images, but still present in the story that the image tells. Colour is also the absolute creator for dramatized and fictive situations in Fariñas’ images.
Spanish Mauro Fariñas (b. 1982) graduated from the master’s degree programme in the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2006 with excellent grades and received an honorary mention for his final work. He currently lives and works in Helsinki and in 2008 he participated in the Prague Triennale. Jiri Geller (b.1970) is a founding member of the artist group ROR. He has presented his work around the world both in solo exhibitions and in group shows by ROR.
Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary